THE GUNPOWDER PLOT

Following a specific reaction I observed to this talk some weeks ago  I've decided to advise all those who have booked the talk, or who are thinking of doing so,  of a 'trigger warning' .

While most people are aware that the actions of Guy Fawkes and the conspirators was to blow up Parliament and kill King James I many are probably unaware that the perpetrators  of the plot were Catholics and their intention was to overthrow the Protestant establishment and return England to Catholicism.

During this talk a few weeks ago to a ladies church group four ladies took exception to the recital of the reasons behind the plot and walked out.

I have no wish to offend anyone but I cannot change history so it is perhaps important that those commissioning this particular talk understand that it contains elements which you may prefer not to know.

Guy Fawkes

 I've has another request for my Canals talk, necessitating yet another variant, this time for the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation.

The Strawberry Island Boat Club want the talk in May, having heard about it via the South Yorkshire Boat Club who I spoke to last September.

I now have as many variants of this talk as I do for Remembrance:

A general version, a Yorkshire one, one for Bradford, another for Wiltshire and one for Barnsley - plus the Aire and Calder and the Don Navigation versions.

                                 Narrowboat 'Friendship'

Around the World with Ten Famous Monuments or Buildings has been this year's most popular talk by far and has been very well received by a variety of audiences.

This year has also brought me a number of new clients, including the Darfield Wesley Companionship Group;  Honley Civic Society; Honeybunch Women's Club and the Cambridgeshire & Huntingdonshire Family History Society, in addition to my regular and much valued clients such as Thornton Antiquarian Society; the Howden and Pontefract Probus groups and the Castleford Historical Society.

SOME STATISTICS

While my American Tour Group talk (see my previous post) is something of a one-off my schedule of talks to my more general clients, both old and new, comprises some 100 talks to 84 different groups in 2026.

I now have 18 different talks to offer my clients and much to my surprise the most popular talk is a tie between my two newest talks, A Tale of Two Houses and Four Famous Murders.

Hardwick Hall

 The ever popular Gunpowder Plot, Highwaymen and Model Villages (probably my all-time 'best seller') take joint second place.

The History of the English Canals continues to be a popular choice alongside the newer talk, Around the World with Ten Famous Monuments and Buildings.

 STATELY HOMES and AMERICANS

Much to my surprise I've been asked to again give a talk  to the American tour group, see my post of 12th of June 2025.

This time, after my talk, they will be visiting Nostel Priory and the York Treasurer's House so I've put together an introductory talk for both venues.

Nostel Priory

It's a little shorter in time to my usual talks, about 35 rather than 50 minutes, but that seems to be more what they want.

It's unlikely to be of much use in future, unless I'm asked to repeat the talk for the same group, presumably next year. We shall see, but it's a pleasant challenge to talk English history to Americans.

 CANAL TALKS

The Canals talk is another one with variations to suit the locality of the audience.

The most used one is a Yorkshire version, because most of my talks are in the county, and as well as giving an historical perspective on the history of the canal system it tells the story of the three famous cross - Pennine canals; the Huddersfield Narrow; the Rochdale and the Leeds and Liverpool canal.

Bridge carrying the B6149 over the now  in-filled Bradford canal

However, I've been asked to give the talk in three areas of Bradford  -  Cullingworth, Thornton and Queensbury, so have felt obliged to do a variation of the basic Yorkshire talk to include the now closed Bradford Canal.

 GUNPOWDER and REMEMBRANCE

October and November usually attract two topical talks, The Gunpowder Plot for events surrounding the 5th of November and Remembrance, relating to War Memorials established at the end of World War I, and associated with Armistice Day the 11th of November.

I have eight Gunpowder Plot talks in the two months, and three for Remembrance.

The unique factor of the Remembrance talks is that each one has to be individualised to tell the story of the War Memorial in the town or village where the talk is being held.

The Thorner War Memorial

The success or otherwise of these is dependent on the information that is still available to go with photographs of the memorial itself, but it is one of my great pleasures to research their foundation and perhaps add to the community's knowledge of their precious memorial.

 The talk at Thorner will be particularly relevant as it is being held on the anniversary of Armistice Day itself, the 11th of November and will follow a church service to which I an honoured to have been invited.

 ANOTHER SPECIAL!

I posted on 2nd May about preparing a special, individual version of my canals talk for a local boat club.

By a strange co-incidence I've now been asked to give the same talk to a group in Wiltshire, not in person of course but via Zoom.

This has entailed yet another 'special' version to include the canal local to their area, in this case the Kennet & Avon Canal and the famous Caen Hill lock flight.

I have another version in the pipeline, this time for the Friends of Pudsey Roller.

http://www.pudsey-roller.co.uk

Their special interest is the steam roller but steam never really caught on as a canal boat propulsion method although I've managed to include at least one steam-powered boat in the talk.

Steam narrowboat 'President' with butty

LATEST NEWS

Another new client for my talks is the Oulton Manor Care Home who have booked me to do a whole series of talks, starting last month with one a month planned up to the end of the year.

So far we've done Crime and Punishment and Wonderful Things, with Model Villages and the Gunpowder Plot in the pipe -line.

It is a truly beautiful venue and it's a pleasure talking to the guests there.

August and September are  proving to be a very busy time with no less than eighteen talks booked over the two months, plus I'm also going to repeat my guided walk around Pontefract on the 20th as part of the Pontefract Civic Society's Heritage Weekend.

 NEW TALK - NEW AUDIENCE

I've posted before about the invitation I'd received, following the recommendation of my good friend and fellow speaker Jackie Depelle, to give a talk about English country houses to a group of American tourists, on a whistle-stop tour of the UK visiting just about every stately home they could manage.

The talk, entitled "A Tale of Two Houses - Chatsworth House and Hardwick Hall" was presented to the group last Sunday, the 8th of June, at a hotel just outside York.

It seemed to be well received, although it's often hard to judge such matters. In the event there were few questions as they were keen to get to their beds after what had been a long and tiring day.

No matter the outcome it was an interesting experience, talking English history to Americans, although I did manage to sneak in a couple of American anecdotes, re JFK's visit to Edensor village,  just adjacent to Chatsworth House, to visit the grave of his sister.

 Another new talk just completed, well not exactly a 'new' talk, more a special version of an existing one.

I've been booked to give a talk at a boat club I first spoke to in March, then it was Highwaymen but not surprisingly, considering who they are, they would like my Canals talk.

The only snag is the talk as it stands never mentions the particular canal this boat club is situated on!

Cue a re-working to omit certain sections of the original talk and to add in some detail and photographs, from my own collection, of 'their' canal.

Coal barges on the Aire and Calder Navigation

This is in the same vein as the Remembrance talk about war memorials where I endeavour to research the war memorial in whichever town or village I am giving the talk in order that the presentation becomes personal to the group I'm speaking to.

Accordingly, I now have a whole collection of  Remembrance talks, most of which will never see the light of day again, but I don't mind. I enjoy the research that goes into making a successful talk and the whole idea is to please my audience, which I hope I  always do.

ANOTHER NEW TALK

I've been pondering for some time as to what my next talk should be about.

I considered doing Witches Wizards and Warlocks but don't seem to be able to decide on a format so instead I'm currently working on Four Famous Murders - and Murderers, Dr Crippen, Reginald Christie, John George Haigh and Ruth Ellis.

They all have one unique characteristic which sets them apart and I think will make an interesting subject, and as they are all 20th century crimes there is plenty of information available on them.

They all pre-date the abolition of capital punishment in the UK so all the murderers ended up on the gallows, which should make for some interesting questions and comments afterwards.

                                The gallows at HMP Wandsworth

PS - The above talk is finished and ready to go, all I need now is a brave speaker finder to give it a whirl so I can find out if it's any good. 

It is always difficult to judge one's own work and usually all my talks have been revised after a first outing, in fact some have been in an almost constant state of revision as I've ironed out any wrinkles in the story.

 A NEW TALK

I've mentioned before about a special mini talk I'm doing on Friday for one of my regular groups, but this talk, originally about Hardwick Hall, has developed into something more.

My good friend and fellow speaker Jackie Depelle, having been asked to give a talk to a group of American tourists, has recommended that the tour group approach me instead.

This particular group are visiting England specifically to visit various stately homes, including Hardwick.

Hardwick Hall - more glass than wall.

The Hardwick mini talk is not really enough to satisfy such a group so I have expanded the talk to include Chatsworth House, which has a good deal in common with Hardwick through their common owner, Bess of Hardwick.

So a new venture for me with a new audience, if it goes well I'm thinking of adding the talk to my repertoire as there may be interest in the subject from other groups.

 Model Villages continues to be a popular talk, I did three in February. It is a talk which always generates a good deal of questions and general discussion and I invariably learn something new, especially about villages which don't feature in the talk..

March is going to be a busy and varied month:

3 March (afternoon) - Wonderful Things

3 March (evening) - Monuments

4 March - The Pontefract Murder

5 March - Votes for Women

7 March - Highwaymen

11 March - Model Villages (again)

12 March - Stay Safe On-Line

13 March - Highwaymen

18 March - Crime and Punishment

19 March - Votes for Women

20 March- Monuments

Then on the 18th I've a special presentation for a regular client, outside of my normal talks program, on Hardwick Hall and 'Bess of Hardwick'.

Whew!

 

 Stay Safe On-Line

Well in my last post I was bewailing the lack of interest in 'Stay Safe On-Line', only to present it today to the Hessel U3A.

It was very well received with lots of note taking by some in the audience, and confirmation from others who recognised, and had been subjected to some of the scams I mentioned and cautioned against.

This led to some very useful and informative exchanges as people related their experiences so everyone could better understand the dangers present in the virtual world, and which made the whole presentation more personal, rather than just academic.

I understand that elements of the talk will be incorporated into the group's journal for the benefit of those not present.

I continue to hope that more groups will take this talk as it was upsetting to hear of one lady's experience, which could have been avoided had she only heard my presentation earlier.

 A talk this evening to the Aireborough Historical Society of one of my least requested subjects, 'The Battle of Culloden'.

It's a subject beset with myths which can make it difficult to connect with the audience, but tonight's seemed to be an exception and I was complimented on my impartial research.

I've another rarity next week, this time it's on 'Barnbow', the WWI munitions works near Leeds. I'm not alone in offering this talk, I suppose because it's local that a number of Yorkshire Speakers offer their own version of the creation of the works, and the explosion that occurred there in 1916.

Consequentially the market for this talk is pretty thin, most societies having had one such talk from one of the speakers at sometime.

Even so, I've given the talk 20 times since 2017, it was the second talk I gave, and in addition to next week I have another booked for later in the year.

My most popular talk continues to be 'The Gunpowder Plot' by a substantial margin, with  'Canals' in second place and 'After You're Dead' and 'Model Villages' not far behind.

Even though it's a relatively new talk I'm pleased that 'Highwaymen' has done as well as it has although I'm disappointed that more people don't book 'Stay Safe On-Line' as with the ever-increasing 'scams' now so prevalent it is more important than ever that folk are wise to the dangers that modern technology brings.

 A strange set of circumstances this last few days.

A local group I've spoken to a couple of times asked if I could possibly fill a vacant speaker engagement at short notice, as the Speaker Secretary had been unable to contact the previously booked speaker.

I agreed but much to my surprise, the morning before the scheduled talk, I received another 'phone call saying the original speaker had made belated contact and was ready to go.

We agreed to let the original booking stand and I withdrew, or so I thought!

Another 'phone call on the evening of the event, this time in full-on panic mode. The speaker had arrived but had no screen, and this particular venue does not have a suitable blank wall for projection onto - please, please could they borrow my screen?

Of course I agreed but it made me wonder just how some speakers get away with it. You only have to trawl through Speakernet to see how many speakers expect the venue to provide a screen, and sometimes a projector as well. Some speakers turn up with their presentations just on a memory stick and expect the venue to provide the whole gamut of equipment necessary for the talk.

Personally I think this a cop out, if you profess to being a professional speaker then you should arrive at the venue  prepared with all that is required to make your talk a success.

 

 My New Year schedule of talks is now well under way with half a dozen in January alone.

I'm always on the lookout for ways to improve my talks and after three recent outings for the Highwaymen talk, and as a result of some audience discussion afterwards,  I've made some (small) alterations, which ended up being an almost complete re-write!

I'm also in the middle of up-dating 'Stay Safe On-Line' as on-going events can quickly render such a talk obsolete.

I've some new client groups this year, notably the West Riding Woodcarvers Association, the Olicana History Society and the Phratry Harrogate Supper Club as well as some old favourites, the Thornton Antiquarian Society and the Boothferry Local & Family History Group.

 Well my Christmas break is over, it's now 2025 so it's back to work.

Two talks next week, both to groups I've spoken to in the past, Garforth Probus want the new 'Monuments' talk while the Skipton Retired Men's Forum have asked for 'Highwaymen'.

Then a busy following week with talks on the 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th - wow!

That'll keep me out of mischief!

I gave my Canals talk on 14th of December to the Yorkshire Archaeological and Historical Society at the Swarthmore Learning Centre. Over lunch in the pub afterwards a chap from the Friends of Pudsey Roller, a group dedicated to the preservation of an historic Leeds-built Steam Roller talked to me about giving the same talk to his group.

Our talk moved on to the use, limited though it was, of the use of steam propulsion in canal boats.

In expectation of a booking from the Pudsey Rollers I carried out  some research on steam engines in canal boats and revised the talk to include a 'steam element' so as to make the talk more attractive to this particular audience. 

I will see if the work has been worthwhile and a new booking results from my endeavours.

 Well it's ages since I last posted and my good friend Jackie Depelle, a highly recommended speaker on family history and associated topics, 

(check out her site at https://depellejg.wixsite.com/mysite)

reminded me that it was about time I up-dated my blog.

The most significant news is I now have a new talk, Ten World Famous Monuments, which takes the form of a round-the-world tour, starting in London with Nelson's Column before travelling to Paris for the Eiffel  Tower, Italy and the Leaning Tower of Piza, onto Egypt and the Great Pyramid, India and the Taj Mahal before visiting New York and the Statue of Liberty.

Back in the UK we go to the Angel of the North before returning to London for Tower Bridge and Big Ben, ending our journey at Stonehenge.

                                           The Statue of Liberty, New York USA

As well as continuing my talks program in September, as part of Pontefract Civic Society's Heritage Weekend, I conducted a series of guided walks around Pontefract and later that same month I took part in a local history event at Worsborough Dale in conjunction with the Worsborough Local History Society.

I continue to run a family history group for Sherburn u3a and to be a trustee of the Pontefract and Ackworth Almshouse Charity.

I'm always thinking of new topics for my talks and would like to do one on Witches, Wizards and Warlocks, if only I can find the time.

In the meantime, my sincere thanks to all those groups who have listened to my talks in the last year and my very best wishes to them, and all my readers, for Christmas and the New Year, and I will try to post more often in the future,